The red-fleshed beast Erika had butchered had barely touched the ground when Elrimm stepped over it, swiftly moving toward the kidnapper. His fist arrived before the rest of him, striking in a powerful but controlled blow to the midsection before he jerked the forearm back and out again with an elbow to the jaw.

Elrim clearly caught the savage horror in a sensitive spot, as it gasped for air, doubled over, and dropped the child it seemed intent of escaping with. The two creatures that had decided to fade into nothingness exchanged worried glances, but finished disappearing none-the-less. Alejandro's new "friend" watches with concern as his kin are being beaten. He looks on with interest, holding a handful of dandelions.

<OOC Alejandro and Erika up next, then Galgaric and Grendo if there's anything left to fight /OOC>

"Finders - keepers, losers - weepers" Alejandro rode up, and snatched the dropped boy before the critter could recover, swiftly checking how badly beaten the child was; then, he laid his healing glove upon it to stop the bleeding.

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

The last attacking monster's body goes limp and falls to the ground as its head, lopped off by Erika, travels a slight distance before making a rubbery plop and rolling down an incline.

You hear a loud set of gasps from inside the farmhouse, and then a few moments of silence as you collect yourselves. A man yells, "Aren't you going to kill that last one?" While you hear a woman sobbing, "They killed my son... My son is dead!"

The final monster is sitting in the shade of the tree looking somewhat confused, or at least with an expression you imagine is confusion. He points towards the unconscious boy and asks, in the common tongue, "May I have that when you're done with it?"

Elrimm felt the boy's heart and lungs working strongly. He was satisfied until he rolled the boy over, seeing the seeping wound with bitemarks around it. His craggy brow furrowed into a deeper crag. He stood and waved Alejandro over, pointing down at the wounded boy.

"Wait for me, we'll talk and have food in a while, I have business to do. Don't forget the flowers - I love flowers!" Alejandro called out to his "friend".

To Gagaric, he just smiled: "Don't you know me? Red is ours for the next few days - so don't you go waving swords at him... and best keep the peasants from doing so - though I doubt they have swords. Pitchforks would do the trick too I guess. So or so, he shall be questioned in a very friendly way, to tell us what he has to say, about his buddies and his boss, and where their den of evil lay."

Turning back to the boy, he asked Elrimm: "I stopped his bleeding, but do tell - why does he not rise? Some poison fell? I do have an antidote - one! - for emergencies. Do you think that we'll have to use it, or will he get better? Wait... idea!"

He stood up and called to his new-found daisy-obsessed friend: "Hey, buddy, can you tell? Is your poison lethal, or will the kid recover on his own?"

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

The brow furrowed over the insectoid eyes of the monster, "The poison causes paralysis which will last anywhere from mere minutes to about four hours." He looked at Alejandro, "Friend, do you intend to make me paralyze him again? It would be best if I got to him before he wakes up. Implanting eggs is very difficult to do with a conscious host, and I would hate to botch the process."

The farmers have still not left the safety of their shelter, and don't seem likely to without coercion.

"I'll come right back to you!" Alejandro called out to the critter, then hissed to his compatriots: "I'll try to get as much information from this one; you make sure the boy is well."

Along with is shadowy horse, the scholar ascended the hill, and produced foods from his maic bag, laying tem out and dining with his new buddy."I didn't know you were... expecting children. How is that working out for you? And do you have a cozy place to raise them? Yes? Praytell where! I'd love to come to visit you and them once they... hatch, perhaps bring a few presents!For certain, I hope you will not raise them alone - do you have many interesting friends to aid you? But forgive my manners - another cup of wine?"

He chatted merrily for quite some time, trying to pry as much information with as little suspicion as possible.

In the end, he just added: "As for that boy you were trying to take, I think he suffers from a rare ailment that is highly contagious to your kind, and I fear many of the other humans in the village do too. It might make your ... implanter ... swell and rot - very painfully! I'd not implant them if I were you. You best tell your buddies when you head back home."

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

Elrimm gave a nod to Alejandro. He rubbed his bare scalp, staring at the wounded child. He'd been bitten by a venomous snake once, but it didn't have much of an effect on his dwarven blood; he didn't recall rightly how he dealt with it, aside from biting the snake back. Kneeling down again, he gently pushed against the boy's flesh, hoping to press some of the poison out at least.

Elrim manages to squeeze some of the poison from the wound, while Alejandro speaks with the red-scaled monster. It seems doubtful that the boy will wake up any quicker, but he will most likely be spared from suffering another bout of paralysis and the wound will be able to heal better without the venom inside. Anyone inspecting the boy now realizes that he really isn't unconscious or asleep, only unable to move anything. His eyes are closed from the fright of the attack, but you imagine he could see you if you opened them...

As Alejandro speaks with the monster, he discovers a number of strange details.

"Oh, yes. You know us. We are all females, I believe is your term, and quite capable of fertilizing our own eggs. We are preparing for an attack, so we must increase our numbers."

"We will be raising our children in a nice cave on Gehenna, have you heard of it? We already have secured a number of hosts for the young to incubate in and feed of once they hatch, but none are mine yet. It would be nice to see my own spawn awaken within the stomach of a creature and devour their way out. Doesn;t the thought just make you giddy?"

"I feel like we just met, but I really do need a host if I am going to return to my other friends. Would you be kind enough to let me have the honor of implanting my young in you? I know it's a lot to ask of your species, but I really do like you."

"The thought of your kids makes me all kinds of blissful, but I am not yet ready for such a commitment, plus I believe you have to be extra careful, because I'm likely to be contaminated as well. And we wouldn't want any... enticing... part of your anatomy to rot. But if I were to be healthy again, how can I visit you? I cannot teleport like your kin do...."

They shared some more smoked ham, then continued.

"I think it is vital for you to return, and warn your fellows - the villagers look all infected to me, and conventional magic can neither detect nor cure this ailment. Some divine plague, I guess, very nasty. Don't implant before we check them all, and gather some curative herbs. I know how to treat it, then you can have all the kids you want."

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

The red-scaled monster looked slightly sorrowful for a moment, then spoke again, "This is bad news for us, as we have many children already incubating in captured humans. I will warn my friends not to abduct any more until we see how these ones turn out." She pointed towards the tower in the distance, over-looking the small town of Halea's Reach. "I'm certain that you can use that to find me again. Now, as you said, I should be going. My friends are in danger of infection." She gave a slight chortle and started to fade away, "I hope to lay my eggs in your intestines someday, Alejandro." You imagine she may have been blushing, but it is hard to tell with insectoid reptilians.

After the four-armed female faded away, the farmhouse door was unlatched and a man poked his head out. "Are they all gone now?" He asked. His aging face is sun-beaten red with a thick graying beard, he looks like he has seen better days but is still strong enough to tend to the fields.

"Apparently, they're gone, and will not be back in the next days" Alejandro informed the others merrily. "And, this one fine lady is our sleeper agent - not that I sleep with her, that could prove lethal."

To their puzzled looks, and a no less confused comment of "Lady?" he just pointed to the fading reptilian. "That lady, red, all scaly. Though, can you call her a lady when she's also a gentleman? My mistake, forgive."

Erika just shook her head: "Couldn't you have just told her to turn round and wait for a surprise - that being a blade?" but the summoner just shook his head: "This will be much better - I may have bought some time for the most recently captured, but we should hurry."

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

The farmers are now rushing out of the house to check on the condition of the young boy. A young woman grabs the child from Elrim and tries to wake him. "Jonathan? Jonathan! It's OK, Mommy is here, it's going to be OK. Jonathan, can you hear me? Please, wake up.." She looks up at Elrim, she looks him straight in the eyes, her own filling with tears. "Is he going to be OK?"

The previously described male farmer is walking towards Alejandro. "Oy! Wait up there now! What business do you have with these creatures? You come in and almost slay the lot of them, like no one else has been able to do, and then you sit down and chat with one of them! Just whose side are you on?"

There is a third farmer, a young man, standing near the fallen bodies of the red creatures. He hesitantly prods one with his foot, as if not sure it is really dead.

The tower sits upon a high hill on the other side of the town. It seems to sparkle and shimmer, as if not quite there. Is it an illusion? Or just an exceptionally dazzling construction? It certainly must be magical, at any rate.

The farmer, Alejandro calmed:"Well, some of them were not to be convinced, but this one listened to reason, and agreed to be our vanguard and help save those already abducted. You don't mind this, friend? I took the liberty of deciding on a course of action, as you were... unavailable. A drink to our victory, perchance? I hear you folks have excellent palinka."

"The boy will be alright, pretty soon I guess" the scholar said as he slapped his face lightly. "See? He blinked."

Then, he went off to discuss with Elrimm.

Erica just stood next to the farmer, savoring the delightful feeling after a good fight. "You speak one unpleasant word to the bookworm, and I punch you. Hard."

The tower gleamed, half ethereal. "I think it is a construct of magic, and a conduit to a rather unpleasant realm. It must be explored, used to retrieve the peasants and artifacts of interest, then sealed from this side."

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

The farmer looked shocked at Erica's threat of violence, and slowly regained himself.

"Hold on now," He said. running up to Alejandro once more, "You're going to get those red things away for good? We would mightily appreciate it, and be more than willing to show our thanks for the arrival of some new heroes. You ought to stop by the cluster of buildings down there," He points to the region in front of the tower, "The Mayor of Halea's Reach will surely thank you properly and might even throw a big celebration and all that. I'm heading down there now, I'll let him know what happened here." With that he began his trip into town.

Grendo was looking around at the others. Elrim helping the unconscious boy, Alejandro talking to the beast, and how Erica and Gagaric dispatched the monsters so swiftly. He cleared his throat, "Uh, friends? I think I will be leaving now. It's really not my place to be here, I'm just a simple message runner. I'm no hero. I'm not cut out for this monster slaying business. So... Does anyone have a message they want relayed before I go?"

The farmer turned arouns at being told to do research, "Research the tower? Ain't much to research in town, you'd have to go in it for that. I hear Calahir and Albie, Belrath's old adventuring friends, tried just that not too long ago. You might meet them in there, I suppose. I wouldn't want to be in there when it vanishes though, there's no telling where it is that it goes."